$ETC at $8.40, do you dare to buy the dip?

Developers are still working overtime on the testnet, Olympia upgrade aims to implement burn deflation, Spiral hard fork has just been deployed, EVM compatibility has been added, and miners' hash rate has hit a new all-time high— but what about the price? Dropped from $8.93, like a boxer just getting up and being pushed back down. No matter how many upgrades this old chain gets, is it also time to put it to rest?

First, look at the surface: a bunch of positive news, but the price remains stagnant.

In the past 24 hours, ETC's price fluctuated less than 1%, holding steady at $8.40 like a dead fish. But don’t celebrate too early— the daily chart shows it just dropped from the high of $8.93, with MACD showing a short-term death cross risk, most moving averages are arranged in a death cross pattern, and the technicals are sending a message: short-term volatility is still coming.

First thing: Olympia upgrade, not just a pie-in-the-sky promise.

On April 7, the core governance team already launched on the testnet. What does this upgrade bring? A fee-burning mechanism similar to EIP-1559—80% of transaction fees are directly burned, combined with the DAO treasury. This is the most significant deflationary upgrade in ETC history.

Second thing: miners haven't fled; they are actually increasing their bets.

ETC's hash rate has hit a new all-time high. Those former ETH miners, after ETH switched to POS, all moved over to ETC. Hash power is the reputation of a PoW chain— the higher the hash rate, the more secure the network, and the less likely a 51% attack. These miners aren’t fools; they are voting with real money—electricity costs—to support ETC.

Third thing: whale accounts hold 36% of ETC.

This isn’t retail investors taking over; it’s whales quietly accumulating. In a risk-averse environment, what do large funds prefer? High liquidity, genuine hash power backing, and narratives that can be told about PoW assets. ETC fits perfectly into this position.

On one side: upgrades implemented, hash rate at new highs, whales holding large positions.

On the other side: technical death cross, ecosystem activity far below ETH/SOL, retail investors panicking.

The critical zone is between $8.00 and $8.20— the last line of defense for bulls and bears.

If you are a short-term trader: consider a small position in the $8.00-$8.20 range to bet on a rebound, targeting $8.85-$9.00. If it falls below $8.00, cut losses decisively, next support at $7.50.

If you are a long-term investor: start building positions in the $8.0-$8.5 range now, as the Olympia mainnet approaches and before the fifth halving, with expectations of $12-$15. If it falls below $7, exit positions, but hold your chips until then.

In this bear market, the ones who can turn things around are never those hyped-up AI coins everyone is shouting about, but rather these old coins with disagreements, controversies, and fundamentally quietly changing for the better.

ETC is currently in a “low-position accumulation phase.” News and fundamentals will continue to catalyze through 2026, and the candlestick chart also signals a medium-term bullish trend. #Gate广场四月发帖挑战 $ETC